The Health Canada Policy Toolkit for Public Involvement in Decision Making

Level 3 Technique:
Nominal Group Process

What Is It?

A nominal group process is a structured group interaction technique designed to generate a prioritized list of high-quality ideas within two hours or less. Contact between participants is restricted to specific steps in the process, so that individuals have sufficient opportunity to come up with their own ideas. The process makes it possible to assess individual participants' knowledge of an issue, monitor the similarity of ideas coming from different participants and encourage innovation.

How It Works

A nominal group generally involves eight to 12 participants and a facilitator, who must be very familiar and comfortable with the technique in order for it to work. Participants receive advance background information on the discussion topic or theme. The facilitator opens the session with an open-ended problem statement, along the lines of "The most important concern in (topic area) is..." or "The best way to increase public trust in HPB is..." The problem statement must not include any specific details that would direct or limit participants' responses.

From this starting point, the group goes through the following steps:

• Silent idea generation, in which participants write down their ideas on cards
• Round-robin sharing of ideas, in which each participant explains one idea at a time and the facilitator notes each idea on a flipchart
• Discussion and clarification, to allow participants to contrast, clarify and justify the ideas on the flipchart without passing judgement on any of the ideas
• Prioritizing the ideas, usually through a point-rating system
• Reassessing the ideas, based on group discussion of why the ideas were graded as they were, after which the group selects its top five priorities using a similar point-rating system
• Measuring of revised judgements, in which points are tallied and the final, prioritized list is recorded. This mechanism provides closure for the entire process.

A wide variety of participants can be invited to take part in a nominal group process, although the small numbers involved usually mean restricting groups to local participants. All ideas belong to the individuals who put them forward and are given equal opportunity to be critiqued. While the process is designed primarily for information sharing, it can also be used to gather background data in support of an action plan or strategy.

When Is It Most Useful?

The nominal group process is used to:

• set goals
• identify obstacles
• gauge opinions on specific issues
• assemble a variety of creative responses to a particular question
• find solutions and recommendations in response to specific issues.

Logistics and Limits

This technique can be used to address only one theme or issue at a time and participants must receive sufficient background information in advance. No more than eight to 12 participants can be included in a single group.

Cost Implications

Direct costs for the nominal group process include standard supplies, such as paper, pencils, pens, photocopies, postage and faxes. (Some advance costs may be reduced or eliminated if participants have convenient access to email.) Other cost factors could include travel for out-of-town participants and fees for facilitation and recording. It may be possible to absorb some costs by working with in-house personnel.

Expectation for Feedback or Follow-Up

Participants may ask for a final report on the process and for information on the sponsoring organization's response to their findings. The process may inspire some participants to take a longer-term interest in the issue.

Timelines

A nominal group can be assembled within two or four weeks, unless extensive advance research is required to identify participants. Charges for space rental and distribution of background information may be lower if a planning period is available.

Potential Pitfalls

The short time frame for a nominal group process may leave some participants dissatisfied with the amount of time they received to air their views. It may be impossible to fully clarify issues or problems, and the results of the process may suffer as a result.